Health Canada Seeks Comments on Acrylamide Proposal
Health Canada has recommended adding acrylamide to the country’s list of toxic substances. The chemical is produced when sugars and an amino acid in starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures, causing a reaction called the Maillard effect. Acrylamide has been detected in breakfast cereals, pastries, cookies, breads and rolls, coffee, and potato products such as French fries and potato chips. The chemical’s presence at high levels in carbohydrate-rich foods was discovered in 2002 by the Swedish food safety authorities. It has apparently been found to cause cancer in laboratory rats. According to a notice published in the February 21, 2009, Canada Gazette, current consumption levels “may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health.” Comments on the recommendation must be submitted by April 22. See Globe and Mail, February 21, 2009; Foodnavigator-usa.com, February 26, 2009.
Meanwhile, research recently published in the American Journal of Epidemiology reportedly shows that acrylamide does not raise the risk of breast cancer. Swedish researchers studying more than 61,000 women born before 1949, apparently found that those with the highest acrylamide intake were no more likely than those with the lowest intakes to develop the disease. The scientists cautioned, however, that acrylamide intake in the entire group studied was fairly low, so it is not clear whether the findings can be extrapolated to other population groups. See Reuters, February 25, 2009.
